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Crate digging is an inseparable part of Hip-Hop culture. Whether or not there is a local record store in your vicinity, chances are you’ve heard or seen your favorite artists taking part in the tradition. In the days before digital music, Serato, and USB drives, record stores provided producers and everyday music fans an opportunity to scour through row upon row of vinyl, a veritable treasure hunt for just the right record to sample or the hottest jam to add to one’s collection. For many, nothing compares to the ritual of digging through crates, an experience that is hard to replicate in world where online retailers are frequently replacing brick-and-mortar music stores and places like eBay provide vinyl collectors a place to sell their goods more effectively than sidewalk pop-up shop so ubiquitous in previous decades. The merging of the old and new ways of browsing, purchasing, and sharing music has proved elusive, as the penchant for diggin’ in the crates is a habit steeped in tradition, but some creative minds have developed what may promise to be the closest thing to online diggin’ in the form of a seriously dope interactive website.

Digging Into Hip-Hop is self-described “experimental crate digging experience about 90s Hip-Hop” that provides visitors with a truly unique experience. Essentially a virtual crate-digger’s dream, DIHH allows Heads to peruse boxes of records by well-known artists such as A Tribe Called Quest and more obscure ones like the Nonce. Once a record is selected, users have the opportunity to listen to the material, discover more about the record in question, and more. Most importantly, it allows you to listen to the LP as you browse, which is the element that bridges the traditional with the contemporary by allowing for a surrogate to an age-old activity and the very contemporary feeling associated with instantaneous delivery of content. Still in its infancy, the creators of the site make it clear that the project is ongoing and collaborative, saying it is “open to any contribution, improvement or suggestion.”

With just over 60 records currently stored, it’s likely DIHH will begin warehousing more and more each day. Which records are missing for you?